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Selling

What can make selling a home more stressful than usual? Selling it in the winter. We are experiencing a bout of great weather for this time of year…. but if you’re in the midwest, you know it’s coming!

Generally speaking, during winter there are fewer buyers , the skies are gloomy and then their are obvious poor weather conditions. So what can you do to have some success with showing your home during these cold, winter months when most are of the opinion that spring, summer and fall are the times of year to sell your home? Warm and brighten up the place; make it look like a refuge from the weather!

Not everyone has the luxury of waiting until the traditional spring or summer home-buying season to plant that “for sale” sign. And while it’s true that in most areas you’ll probably have fewer buyers during the winter, you will also have less competition from other sellers.

So you’ve come to the conclusion that selling and moving to a new home/city is in your best interest. Maybe it’s to move to a better school district. Perhaps you’ve accepted a higher paying job in a new city or maybe you’re just ready for a change in climate or scenery. We’ve assembled a list of tips that may help make this process a little easier on you.

1. First thing’s first…. de-personalize

You will want to “remove yourself” from the home. In other words, take down extremely personal items such as portraits, Johnny’s finger paintings. Pack these times of items in clear, plastic totes with lids. You’ll want to skip the cardboard boxes when packing these irreplaceable items. You want potential buyers to imagine their own photos on the walls… not focusing on yours and wondering what kind of family is currently living here. Consider placing a “Welcome Home” sign in the entryway when you remove the latest family portrait. READ THE FULL POST HERE

We’ve lived in our house for just over eight years. We actually build our home so we had a pretty nice canvas to start with. We have repainted rooms in our house to the point I think they may actually be waterproof. We’ve added a nice fence in the backyard. We’ve expanded our patio and even built a second story deck with access from our bedroom. Here’s the question: When is enough enough? How do you know when to stop?

A good rule of thumb is to understand your neighborhood and they types of homes that are surrounding yours. Do you have the nicest home in your neighborhood now? If so, then pouring more money and hard work into your home might not lead to an increased value. Do you have the dumpiest house in the neighborhood? If you do, then fixing it up to match the quality of your neighbors could be a great investment when you go to sell.

How long do you plan to live in your current home? This is really the big question. You can remodel until you’re blue in the face if you plan on dying where you live. If you plan on selling your home in the near future then you’re probably going to want a return on your investment so make sure you’re not taking it too far. READ THE FULL POST HERE

Okay, so we’re in a bit of a recession and home values are down. You still may want to consider selling your home! Let’s consider a few things before jumping to conclusions.

Yes, you’re probably going to make less money on the sale of you home if you try selling it today vs. waiting a few years, assuming the market returns to normal. Hypothetically, if you sell your home will you be buying a bigger, more expensive home? If your answer is yes then consider this. You’ll make less money on the sale of your home but you’ll save a lot more money on the bigger more expensive home that you’ll find on the market today.

Let’s say for the sake of easy math that home values are down 20%. You would make 20% less on your $100,000 home (-$20,000) but if you bought a $150,000 house you would save 20% ($30,000). You would come out $10,000 ahead if you are moving up in home values.